Bait

Night lay deep and black as ink.

Chu Mengxi sat on the rooftop opposite Ink Rhyme Studio. She had been keeping watch for three days and three nights without pause.

Over those three days, aside from sending his book boy out once to buy xuan paper and paints, the painter Wu Daozi had displayed no other unusual behavior.

Her once-firm suspicions began to waver.

Could it really have been nothing but a coincidence?

Just as her focus slipped for an instant.

"Creak—"

The tightly shut doors of Ink Rhyme Studio, which had remained closed for days, suddenly opened a crack without a sound.

A dark shadow drifted out through the gap like a wisp of blue smoke. After a few flickers, it vanished into the pitch-black night.

"I lost it!"

Chu Mengxi's heart jolted. She immediately gave chase, but the shadow was incredibly fast, its movement technique bizarre. Within a few breaths, it had vanished without a trace.

Chu Mengxi returned to her spot with a livid expression, filled with regret.

At almost the exact same time, Zhao Tie and Li Rui, who had been watching Mister Liu and the Iron Arm Bear King, encountered the same situation.

Both targets vanished from sight at the same time, in an exceedingly bizarre manner.

All three surveillance teams had failed!

"How did this happen?!"

Inside the temporary meeting room, Chu Mengxi slammed her fist onto the table, her face brimming with frustration and fury.

"These three suspects acted at the same time, as though they had planned it together! This is absolutely no coincidence! There must be a connection behind them!"

"But, Chief, we've lost even the people themselves. The trail's gone cold!" Zhao Tie said anxiously, scratching at his head and ears.

"No. It hasn't."

At that moment, Lin Feng, who had remained silent all along, suddenly spoke.

Everyone's eyes focused on him once again.

He slowly rose to his feet, his gaze sweeping across the three people present before finally settling on Ling Yue'er.

"The best hunters often appear in the form of prey."

A profound, unfathomable smile curled at the corner of Lin Feng's mouth.

"Now, it's time to bring out our most dangerous—and most effective—bait."

"Huh? Me?"

Ling Yue'er pointed at her own nose, utterly bewildered.

Chu Mengxi instantly understood Lin Feng's intentions, and her expression changed drastically.

"No! I absolutely disagree! This is far too dangerous! The Skin-Peeling Demon targets girls like you. This isn't using you as bait—it's sending you to your death!"

"What's there to fear!"

Ling Yue'er thrust out her rather ample chest, her face full of eagerness.

"With Brother Lin here, I'm not afraid at all. Besides, I want to avenge Sister Wan'er with my own hands!"

She held an almost blind trust in Lin Feng.

"Lin Feng, what exactly are you planning to do?" Chu Mengxi fixed him with icy phoenix eyes.

"Very simple."

Lin Feng drew out a talisman from his robes and handed it to Ling Yue'er.

"This is a Tracking Talisman. As long as you pick up even the faintest trace of the target's aura, no matter whether he flees to the ends of the earth, I'll be able to find his location."

"Tonight, Ling Yue'er will act as she normally does and stroll alone through the city's busiest night market. We'll protect her from the shadows."

"The Skin-Peeling Demon has not committed a crime for three consecutive days. It will certainly strike again. And perfect prey like Ling Yue'er is an irresistible temptation to it."

Lin Feng's plan was simple—and mad.

He intended to use the City Lord's daughter, Ling Yue'er, to fish for the venomous snake lurking in the dark!

"I still don't agree!"

Chu Mengxi's stance remained resolute.

Yet Ling Yue'er snatched the talisman away, tucked it into her bosom as though it were treasure, and gave Lin Feng a sweet smile.

"Brother Lin, I'll listen to you in everything!"

That night, Sleepless Street, Nan Yan Commandery's most prosperous street, blazed with lights and teemed with voices.

Ling Yue'er changed into a beautiful goose-yellow dress and flitted through the bustling crowd like a dancing butterfly.

One moment, she was looking at the sugar figurines by the roadside; the next, she was clapping and cheering for the street performers. Her innocent, lively manner drew countless sideways glances.

Within a hundred meters around her, Chu Mengxi, Zhao Tie, and Li Rui had already disguised themselves as ordinary passersby. They silently positioned themselves at every corner, keeping her securely protected at the center.

Their senses had been heightened to the limit. Not even the slightest rustle of wind or grass could escape them.

Lin Feng sat atop the tallest tavern, seemingly sipping tea at leisure.

Yet under the effect of the 110-fold critical strike, his senses spread over all of Sleepless Street like an invisible net cast across heaven.

Time passed, second by second.

If you enjoy this book, remember to add it to your bookshelf so you won't lose it next time.

One hour...

Two hours...

Night had grown deep, and the pedestrians on the street gradually thinned out, yet that cunning Skin-Peeling Demon still had not appeared.

Could it have sensed something?

Zhao Tie grew somewhat anxious.

Just then.

"Yue'er!"

A gentle, jade-like voice came from the street corner.

A handsome young man dressed in white and holding a folding fan walked toward Ling Yue'er with delighted surprise.

"Li... Li Tianyu?"

The smile on Ling Yue'er's face stiffened slightly when she saw him.

The newcomer was Li Tianyu, the eldest legitimate son of the Li Family, the commandery city's foremost Lineage—and also her nominal fiancé.

"Yue'er, why are you here alone so late at night? It's too dangerous!"

Li Tianyu approached Ling Yue'er, his words full of concern.

"I... I came out to get some air."

Ling Yue'er answered perfunctorily.

"I see. As it happens, I have nothing to do either. How about I accompany you for a stroll?"

Li Tianyu smiled like a spring breeze.

In the shadows, Chu Mengxi's brows drew together slightly.

Li Tianyu's appearance had undoubtedly disrupted their plan.

But she could not exactly come forward and drive him away. After all, in Nan Yan Commandery, even the City Lord's Mansion had to give the Li Family some face.

However, just as Li Tianyu's hand was about to touch Ling Yue'er's shoulder.

A flash of disgust and vigilance suddenly crossed Ling Yue'er's eyes.

She inconspicuously stepped back half a pace, avoiding Li Tianyu's touch. At the same time, she silently crushed the Thousand Mile Soul Chasing Talisman in her hand.

"You aren't Li Tianyu!"

Though Ling Yue'er's voice was not loud, it was filled with certainty!

"Oh?"

"Li Tianyu's" smile did not change. "Yue'er, why would you say that? If I am not Li Tianyu, then who could I be?"

"Li Tianyu may be a detestable hypocrite, but he's a clean freak and never uses incense. Yet you carry a faint but disgusting smell!"

Ling Yue'er said coldly, "It's exactly the same smell I detected on Sister Wan'er!"

"Hahaha... Hahahaha!"

"Li Tianyu" suddenly threw back his head and laughed. That gentle, jade-like face began to twist and melt in an exceedingly bizarre fashion!

In the blink of an eye, he transformed from an elegant young gentleman into a terrifying demonic figure clad in a blood-red robe, with an alluring face neither male nor female!

The Skin-Peeling Demon!

"I never expected that after hiding myself so well, I would still be discovered by a little girl like you! What a... delightful surprise!"

The Skin-Peeling Demon extended its scarlet tongue and licked its lips, greed filling its strange eyes.

"Since you've discovered me, there's no need to keep pretending. Your skin is more perfect than every one of my previous collectibles! Today, you are destined to become my finest masterpiece!"

Before its words had faded, its figure flashed, transforming into a streak of blood as it lunged straight at Ling Yue'er!

"Bold demon! Do not run rampant!"

Chu Mengxi, Zhao Tie, and Li Rui roared at the same time and charged out from the darkness. Their three fierce attacks formed a triangular formation, sealing every possible route of retreat for the Skin-Peeling Demon!

Yet a bizarre smile appeared on the Skin-Peeling Demon's face.

"Just you three pieces of trash?"

Its body twisted impossibly in midair, splitting into three identical blood-red phantoms that rushed separately toward the three attacks!

The three full-force strikes shattered only the three phantoms!

Meanwhile, the Skin-Peeling Demon's true body had appeared behind Ling Yue'er like a ghost, one deathly pale hand reaching for the back of her neck!

"Not good!"

Chu Mengxi and the others' expressions changed drastically. By the time they tried to rescue her, it was already too late!

Ling Yue'er's face also went pale with fright. She had never expected this demon to be so powerful!

At that critical moment, when a thousand pounds hung by a single thread.

"Die!"

A calm voice carrying a trace of impatience rang beside the Skin-Peeling Demon's ear, like the frozen ice of the Nine Netherworlds.

The Skin-Peeling Demon felt a terrifying killing intent capable of freezing its soul lock onto it in an instant!

It abruptly turned its head, only to see a blood-red thunderous blade radiance, dazzling to the extreme and seemingly capable of cleaving apart the stars, already right before its eyes!